Learning to Lean
by The Little Monster 1024
Summary: Sharon was the one who read over his homework. She was the one who knew his favorite soda and that his favorite color was red. She took care of him when he was sick, even if that meant cleaning vomit off the floor of the hallway that one time he got the flu.


**Learning to Lean**

 **AN** : Was feeling angsty tonight. I definitely needed this after I was left devastated and betrayed by the latest episode of Castle. Not sure if any of you guys watch it- _don't._

This takes place sometime this season (4).

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He'd never seen her cry before. He'd seen her upset, had seen her angry with suspects.

He'd seen tears in her eyes, but he'd never seen this.

Rusty has never seen Sharon crying. He'd never seen her shoulders shake and her breathing turn to ragged, sharp intakes of breath. There were tissues next to her from her spot on the couch. She was hugging a pillow to her chest.

Emily told him what happened. He was on his way out of his room when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He was confused when he caught sight of the caller ID, Emily hardly ever called until late at night or early in the morning. Also, he never really talked to her on the phone; they just texted.

When he answered he could tell she was upset about something. Her voice changed a little, just like Sharon's.

Emily told him about her grandfather. She told him about how her grandmother had gone upstairs to wake him, he'd gone to take a nap before dinner, and had found him dead in their bed.

Rusty didn't know much about Sharon's parents; he'd never even met them before. They were always too busy to go see them at Christmas, not matter how much he knew Sharon wanted to. He knew that Sharon was closer with her father. She'd never told him that but he'd gathered it from the little stories she told herself or others he'd heard from Ricky and Emily.

After he'd hung up with Emily, he took a deep breath. He pulled his bedroom door open and stepped into the hallway. He walked quietly down the hall and into the living room. It was then that he found her.

He heard her sniffle and reach for the box of tissues, sighing a shaky sigh when she pulled the last one from the box.

"Sharon?" He said, his voice quiet and gentle.

She jumped a little, turning to look at him. "Rusty…" She started wiping her eyes, trying to hide all evidence of her tears.

He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, brushing some of her tissues out of the way. "Emily told me."

Sharon nodded a little. He watched her eyes grow watery again as she pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to keep the tears at bay.

He wasn't much of a hugger, but when he saw Sharon like that, he didn't know what else to do. His impulse was to hug her, to comfort her in the way he knew she would comfort him.

He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her slight surprise before she hugged him back. She was shaking slightly and that scared him a little. He'd never seen Sharon as anything but solid and strong. His hand found its way to her hair, gently stroking it.

"I'm so sorry, Sharon."

He felt her nod a little before pulling back. More tears slipped down her cheeks and she wiped them away.

He felt scared himself. He wanted to make it better. He wished there was a way he could make her pain go away, because of all the people in the world Sharon deserved to hurt the least of all of them.

"Do you want some tea?" He asked quietly, feeling completely inadequate.

She sniffled a little and nodded. "That'd be nice, Rusty, thank you."

He gently touched her arm as he stood, making his way to the kitchen.

As he began preparing her tea, he couldn't help but think what she was going through. He didn't have a father- well, not one that he cared about, anyway. But he had a mother, two in fact. If he lost his mother, he'd be devastated. He loved her, even though she'd put him through so much.

But if he lost Sharon? He didn't even like to think about it. He'd be lost. She did more than just feed him and pay for his school. It was because of her that he was the person he was today. She believed in him and loved him. She loved him back when he was just hellbent on finding his mom and treating her horribly in the process.

When he thought back on his and Sharon's earliest days together, he still felt horrible. From the very beginning, she treated him like nothing less than her child. Before her, he'd never felt that kind of unconditional love. Well…maybe he had, but if he had from his mother he'd been too young to really remember it.

Sharon was the one who read over his homework. She was the one who knew his favorite soda and that his favorite color was red. She took care of him when he was sick, even if that meant cleaning vomit off the floor of the hallway that one time he got the flu. She listened to him ramble on and on about chess strategy when he knew she didn't have any interest in it at all. Sharon was the one that taught him his self-worth, the first one that told him he could be something.

Sharon wasn't his mother, but she was definitely his mom.

And he didn't think he could live without his mom.

He turned his head to look at her. She was cleaning up the tissues on the couch, wiping at her eyes in the process.

He didn't really know how, but he was determined to help her through this, because if just the thought of losing Sharon tore him up inside, he couldn't even imagine what she was going through.

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 **This one was a bit shorter.**

 **Thoughts?**


End file.
